Ernest Samuel Marks

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(7 July 1872 – 2 December 1947) was an Australian sporting administrator and politician. He was born at

West Maitland Maitland () is a city in the Lower Hunter Valley of New South Wales, Australia and the seat of Maitland City Council, situated on the Hunter River approximately by road north of Sydney and north-west of Newcastle. It is on the New England ...

Wool Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. As ...

broker Joseph Marks and Elizabeth, ''née'' Benjamin and attended Royston College in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

before becoming a wool trader and becoming involved in the running of the family business, Joseph Marks & Co.

Politics

Marks served as the

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

member for North Sydney in the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...

from 1927 to 1930. He had also been active in local government through the

Civic Reform Association The Civic Reform Association, variously known as the Civic Reform Movement and the Citizens' Reform Association, was an Australian non-aligned ratepayers' organisation that was formed by approximately seventy people at the Sydney Town Hall on 20 ...

, serving on Sydney City Council from 1920 to 1927 and from 1930 to 1947, with a period as Lord Mayor in 1930.

Sport

In 1888–90 Marks won more than forty trophies as an athlete. He became involved in

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

, serving as secretary of The Amateur Athletic Union of Australia from 1896 to 1934 and as a foundation member of the New South Wales Sports Club. He accompanied the Australian Olympic teams for the 1908 London Games, the 1912 Stockholm Games, and the 1932 Los Angeles Games. In October 1929, he was the inaugural Chairman of the Australian British Empire Games Committee. He was Chair of the Organising Committee of

1938 British Empire Games The 1938 British Empire Games was the third British Empire Games, the event that evolved to become the Commonwealth Games. Held in Sydney, Australia from 5–12 February 1938, they were timed to coincide with Sydney's sesqui-centenary (150 ye ...

held in Sydney.

ES Marks Athletics Field ES Marks Athletics Field is located in Kensington, Sydney, Australia. It was built in 1906 as Sydney Athletics Field. In 1947 a cinder track was installed and it was renamed ES Marks Athletics Field after athletics administrator Ernest Samuel ...

was named in his honour. He donated his large sporting collection to the

State Library of New South Wales The State Library of New South Wales, part of which is known as the Mitchell Library, is a large heritage-listed special collections, reference and research library open to the public and is one of the oldest libraries in Australia. Establish ...

Personal life

During his life, Marks worshipped at the Great Synagogue (Sydney) and was part of the Jewish community. With his brother, Percy J. Marks, Ernest took part in the Jewish Literary and Debating Society, and they were founders and office-bearers of the Shakespeare Society. Percy, with Ernest's backing, was instrumental in forming the

Australian Jewish Historical Society The Australian Jewish Historical Society was founded in 1938 in Sydney. The first president was Percy J. Marks. At the first business meeting of the Society, the then-president of the Royal Australian Historical Society K. R. Cramp expressed ...

. Percy was first president in 1939–41, followed by Ernest in 1944–47. In 1930 he was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE). Ernest Samuel Marks died in Sydney in 1947. Ernest Samuel Marks at his desk, circa 1930

References

External links

Susan Rutland. Marks, Ernest Samuel (1871–1947), Australian Dictionary of Biography, 1986.Bruce Coe. E.S. Marks and his Contribution to Australian Sport, PhD Thesis, University of Canberra, 2011.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marks, Ernest 1872 births 1947 deaths Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of New South Wales Civic Reform Association politicians Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Mayors and Lord Mayors of Sydney Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Sydney City Councillors Australian businesspeople Australian sports executives and administrators Commonwealth Games Australia officials Jewish Australian politicians